Félicien Bardsley

Félicien Bardsley is a Counsel in Goodwin’s Technology and Life Sciences groups.

He focuses his practice on all fields of private equity and mergers and acquisitions, with a concentration on growth equity and venture capital transactions. He advises emerging growth companies (listed and not listed) in France and abroad, as well as the private equity and industrial investors that finance them, particularly technology, internet-related, renewable energy, and life science (including in the cannabis sector) companies, at every stage of development from their incorporation until their sale or IPO and beyond.

Félicien leads Goodwin’s Cannabis practice in France.

Prior to joining Goodwin in 2016, Félicien worked as an associate in the Paris office of King & Wood Mallesons (formerly SJ Berwin), Watson, Farley & Williams LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He was propoted Counsel in January 2022.

Félicien is dually qualified as an Avocat à la Cour, admitted at the Paris Bar, and as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales, and is an alumni of HEC Paris, University College London, the University of Paris I-Sorbonne, and the University of Paris X-Nanterre.

He is fluent in French and English.

Félicien’s recent transactions include advising:

Venture capital transactions

• ITEN, the French specialist in Li-ion ceramic technology, in its €80 million fundraising
• Umiami, a foodtech focusing on creating, manufacturing and marketing plant-based meat and fish fillet substitutes, in its €25 million Series A financing
• BOND Capital in the €250 million Series C financing of Ankorstore, an ecosystem that enables independent brands and retailers to thrive
• Quadrille Capital, Headline and Bpifrance in the $100 million Series B financing of Homa, a Paris-based provider of a game development platform
• Left Lane Capital on the €15 million Series A financing of Moka.care, a French startup that focuses on mental well-being in the workplace
• Fountain Healthcare Partners in the new €6 million Series A of Ermium Therapeutics, a discovery stage Biotechnology company developping innovative therapies for auto-immune diseases
• 83North as lead investor in the $90 million Series C financing of Exotec, a France-based manufacturer of automated warehouse order preparation systems relying on robot fleets operating in 3D
• DST Global in its investment in the €486 million Series D of Qonto, a France-based neobank for B2B use cases
• Left Lane Capital and Quadrille Capital in leading the €24 million Series B financing round of La Belle Vie, a French foodtech start-up offering one-hour home grocery delivery

LBO and other transactions

• The sellers led by Cerea Partners, in the sale of the GPS group, a worldwide specialist in providing returnable packaging solutions, to MML Capital Partners and Metric Capital Partners
• Interflora, the French leader in floral delivery, in the sale of one of its subsidiaries, Renaud Distribution, to the management of Renaud Distribution, alongside Andera Partners and Arkéa Capital
• Tikehau Capital in its acquisition of a minority stake in Valgo, a leader in removal and soil remediation
• Equistone Partners Europe in the sale of the Bruneau Group, one of France’s leading online distributors of office furniture and supplies, to TowerBrook Capital Partners
• Parquest Capital in its investment in the Eduservice group, a major French player in the private sector of technical and higher education
• Salsify, Inc., a US-based firm producing online solitions for e-commerce product content management, in the acquisition of French company, Alkemics, a collaborative commerce platform for retailers and distributors